Watkins’, Breeland’s impact on SB LIV historical for Clemson football

Monday Morning Quarterback

Never in the 54-year history of the Super Bowl has Clemson had former players make such a big impact in the country’s biggest game as three former Tigers did in Kansas City’s 31-20 victory over San Francisco Sunday.

Sure, a few former Tigers have had some good games, but not the kind of impact wide receiver Sammy Watkins, cornerback Bashaud Breeland and linebacker Dorian O’Daniel had.

Watkins hauled in five catches for 98 yards, including a 38-yard reception late in the game that set up the winning touchdown, a Damien Williams’ 5-yard treception from Patrick Mahomes with 2:44 to play in the game. Watkins also made a 28-yard reception in the first quarter, the biggest play of the drive, which led to a Mahomes’ 1-yard run with 31 seconds to play in the opening quarter.

Breeland was arguably the Chiefs’ Most Valuable Defensive Player. The former Tiger led Kansas City with seven tackles, including two for loss. He also broke up one pass, and his second quarter interception allowed the Chiefs to take a 10-3 lead with a Harrison Butker 31-yard field goal with 9:32 to play in first half.

O’Daniel was credited with just one special teams tackle, coming after the Butker field goal, which forced the 49ers to start from their own 20-yard line on the ensuing possession.

Clemson has had a couple of good performances before in past Super Bowls. Dwight Clark made a few key catches for the 49ers in their Super Bowl XVI win over Cincinnati. William Perry had a couple of tackles and scored on a 1-yard touchdown in Chicago’s blowout win over New England in Super Bowl XX. It is still the only Super Bowl in which a former Tiger scored a touchdown.

Grady Jarrett was unbelievable in a losing effort for Atlanta in Super Bowl LI. He sacked Tom Brady three times in the game, which is still tied for a Super Bowl record. Levon Kirkland played a great game for the the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX in a losing effort against Dallas, including a key sack on Troy Aikman that gave the Steelers an opportunity to win the game late.

But no former Clemson player made the impact Watkins and Breeland made Sunday night in a winning effort in a Super Bowl. Watkins was the most consistent wide receiver the Chiefs had all night. His ability to get open eventually opened things up for Tyreek Hill and others in the Kansas City offense.

However, it was Watkins’ 38-yard reception on the go-ahead touchdown drive that was the biggest play of the evening for the Chiefs. With 3:44 to play in the game and facing a second-and-seven from the 49ers’ 48, Watkins made a double move on San Francisco corner Richard Sherman, which allowed Mahomes to find him 38 yards down the near sideline to the 49ers’ 10-yard line.

Three plays later, Mahomes found Williams for the 5-yard game winner with 2:44 to play. Williams later had a 38-yard touchdown to seal Kansas City’s come-from-behind victory.

Get your official national championship and Fiesta Bowl champs gear right here!

From The Web

Latest

Since the start of the 2015 season, Clemson has literally owned the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers are 38-2 in regular season conference games in the last five seasons and 5-0 in the title games. (…)

Clemson has doled out 20-plus offers to rising junior recruits since last Monday, June 1, but has not yet pulled the trigger on an offer to a wide receiver in the 2022 class. A number of wideouts are receiving (…)

In the College Football Playoff Era, Oklahoma has earned a CFP berth four times, the third most behind Clemson’s and Alabama’s five appearances. However, the Sooners are 0-4 in those four appearances, (…)

Hallandale (Fla.) four-star safety Alfonzo Allen (pictured far right) is a highly regarded prospect in the 2022 class and has well over two dozen scholarship offers as a rising junior with two more high school (…)

Danny Ford described Clemson’s tie to South Carolina to close the 1986 regular season as an empty feeling. Though the Tigers’ won their first outright ACC Championship since 1982, they closed the year (…)

Clemson picked up its fifth commitment in the last month when Troy Stellato joined the fold with his verbal pledge Friday. In this feature, The Clemson Insider gives an in-depth breakdown of the newest (…)

Clemson formally added one of the nation’s top receiver prospects to its 2021 recruiting class on Friday when Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons four-star wide receiver Troy Stellato announced his (…)

The Clemson Insider has learned through several sources that members of the Clemson Football Team are planning a protest next Saturday (June 13) at Bowman Field in Clemson. The protesters will start their (…)

It appears college football could be having some type of organized team activity this summer. Because most schools missed all or parts of spring practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, Yahoo Sports’ (…)